McCaffery: At midway point, maybe 2014 hasn't been half bad after all

Saint Joseph’s head coach Phil Martelli yells at an official during the first half of a game against Butler in January. Martelli and the Hawks returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in five years, nearly beating eventual champion UConn in overtime. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

If the first half of 2014 in Philadelphia sports were a baseball manager, it would be fired. If it were a quarterback, it would be booed. If it were a college basketball team, it would be heckled in a rollout. If it were a fighter, it would need smelling salts. If it were a goalie, it would be pulled.

And if the first half of 2014 in Philadelphia sports were an NBA team, Josh Harris would call it a huge success.

Which leads to the good news — and to the bad — for Philadelphia fans. The good news: There will be a second half of 2014. The bad news: There will be a second half of 2014.

Anyway, here it is, in the occasional tradition, the halftime report for 2014 and the 10 candidates most likely to be the Philadelphia sports figure of the year come December. Oddly enough given that no Philadelphia major-league outfit would see a second playoff round, it is a somewhat robust offering.

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No, really. True story.

10. Phil Martelli: With Saint Joseph’s fans growing itchy after a five-year absence from the NCAA Tournament, the Drexel Hill resident sprung from the hot seat to coach the Hawks to a 24-10 record and into The Show, where they would lose, but only in overtime, to eventual champion Connecticut.

9. Ron Hextall: Never reluctant to act impulsively on the ice while becoming an all-time Flyers hero, the former goaltender became the club’s general manager in May and promised to act with patience to rebuild a championship contender. In July, he’s still undefeated.

8. Sebastien Le Toux: If the Union has had a signature player in its fifth-year existence, it’s the versatile French forward. In his second stint in Chester, the popular attacker is leading the Union in goals … and back into serious playoff contention.

7. Chase Utley: Not long ago believed to be done as a major contributor due to mysteriously chronic knee ailments, the second baseman became an All-Star again at 35, hitting and fielding with consistency, even if without some of his one-time power.

6. Jay Wright: The nature of college basketball, which picks a champion single-elimination style, will push too many in-season achievements to the bench. But that was a No. 2 national ranking — No. 2 — that Wright had coached Villanova to late last season.

5. Craig Berube: With a new concentration on defense and a coach-by-the-cut confidence, Berube helped the Flyers recover from the failing Peter Laviolette system, guiding them into the seventh game of their first playoff round, where they would fall to the eventual conference champion Rangers.

4. Steve Mason: Often enough showing his cut-above skills, the former NHL Rookie of the Year gave the Flyers, of all ever-so-tormented franchises, stability in goal and, more, the belief that it will continue.

3. Chip Kelly: The franchise crumbling under the over-trusted Andy Reid system, Kelly’s innovative offense had plopped the Eagles into the playoffs in January, that after a 10-victory, NFC East championship season.

2. Michael Carter-Williams: With the 76ers seemingly determined not to provide anything for their fans to embrace, the gifted guard had the cheek — and the variety of skills — to become the NBA Rookie of the Year anyway.

1. Nick Foles: Winning the job from Michael Vick and keeping it with a mesmerizing ability to have footballs caught by teammates and not opponents (his 27 touchdowns-to-two-interceptions ratio was the best-ever in the NFL), the confident second-year Eagles quarterback appeared in both the playoffs and the Pro Bowl.

Because it is how it works, some sports figure is going to win the competition, quite likely even a candidate not yet in view. And that will give someone something to celebrate at the end of the year ... even as they’re already celebrating the fact that it’s almost 2015.